Vintage Lawnmowers, Stationary Engines, and olde Mechanical Tech

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Drago

Legendary Member
Yes, this is a thing. People buy, restore and collect vintage lawn mowers, motorised or otherwise.

As mentioned elsewhere, I have three Suffolk Iron Foundry mowers coming my way in the coming days, and the plan is to make 2 good ones, get them running, and give them a thorough resto.

Does anyone else on here partake?
 
D

Deleted member 26715

Guest
Used to have an old Suffolk Punch lawnmower must be 30 odd years ago, but as I now have no grass it has long gone.
 

T4tomo

Guru
Used to have an old Suffolk Punch lawnmower must be 30 odd years ago, but as I now have no grass it has long gone.
Isn't that a type of Horse, although I guess it would have kept the grass short anyway? Hope you fed it something else in the absence of grass.
 
D

Deleted member 26715

Guest
Isn't that a type of Horse
It is as well as a mover, I find petrol movers very annoying now, especially on a Sunday when operated by somebody who is retired, WTF can't they mow their lawn on a different day.
 
Location
Wirral
Some very odd looking old lawnmowers around. I've seen a couple that are effectively a hedge trimmer on wheels, as in twin reciprocating saws at ground level, both a manual and powered version. I suppose they might be the original grass cutter machines that cylinder mowers are in fact 'new'.
 

Bazzer

Setting the controls for the heart of the sun.
I have my late Dad's Suffolk Colt in the shed, which is in need of restoration. Although I suspect a hard decision will need to be made as to whether common sense overrides the emotional link, particularly as second hand values are soft.
There is also the attraction of simply plugging in my current electric mower and cutting the lawn, rather than storing then checking fuel, priming the carburettor and pulling the starter cord and all being well followed by ignition. Both will give me stripes, but one at a much easier cost.
 

sleuthey

Legendary Member
I did up a few as a teenager for the cash and something to tinker with prior to having motor bikes. Both Colts and Punches. I used to manage to get the flywheels off without using a puller. It was quite rare to find them with their original grass boxes though due to rust.

oh, I don’t know whether it’s available on catch up, but James May did a re-assembler program about these exact mowers.
 

Profpointy

Legendary Member
Related to the question, the British Lawnmower Museum in a back street in Southport is strangely fascinating and well worth a visit. Probably not worth a special trip, but if you find yourself in the area its a lot more intriguing than you'd think
 
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